1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an integrated separating ring for separating adjacent teeth.
2. Description of the Prior Art
With reference to FIGS. 6 and 7, a conventional separating ring (91) is a resilient open ring used to separate adjacent teeth and comprises two ends having two perpendicular extending legs (911) formed parallelly with each other. The separating ring (91) is implemented with a matrix (92) and a wedge (93). The wedge (93) is carefully selected to ensure a correct size.
In dental surgery such as a dental restoration, a decayed tooth (81) having a hole (811) to be clinically treated and an outer surface having at least one adjacent surface is isolated from at least one adjacent tooth (82). A conventional method for separating the adjacent tooth (82) from the decayed tooth (81) comprises inserting the matrix (92) between the adjacent surface of the decayed tooth (81), mounting the legs (911) of the separating ring (91) to hold the matrix (92) in position and inserting the wedge (93) between the decayed tooth (81) and the adjacent tooth (82). To insert, the separating ring (91) is forced open with a pair of forceps then mounted between the adjacent tooth (82) and the matrix (92). Because the ring (91) is resilient, the ring forces the legs (911) together. The legs (911) being forced together firmly press the matrix (92) to the decayed tooth (81), thereby making tight contact of the matrix (92) with the decay tooth (81) possible.
A restorative material such as a dental composite is then used to fill the hole (811) of the decayed tooth (81) and solidifies in the hole (811) within the matrix (92). After removing the ring (91) and furnishing the outer surface of the decayed tooth (81) with dental composite, the decayed tooth (81) is restored.
However, keeping the ring (91) open requires a considerable force and inserting the legs (911) between the adjacent tooth (82) and the matrix (92) requires great skill and is complicated by keeping the ring open (91), which may lead to placement errors and increase time of the dental surgery, especially important when the dental surgery must be completed within a limited time.
The dental surgery may also be complicated by wedge (93) choosing, since a correct width of wedge must be judged, if the wedge (93) is too small, the wedge (93) will not hold the matrix (92) tightly against the decayed tooth (81) during the filling procedure. If the wedge (93) is too big, the wedge (93) will deform the shape of the filled decayed tooth (81) and may cause food traps.
Furthermore, according to disciplinary requirements in dentistry, a neat, clean and well-organized work area is indispensable for a dentist. However, storing and managing numerous wedges (93) of various sizes becomes a burden in maintaining a correct work area.
To overcome the shortcomings, the present invention provides a separating ring and a method for dental restoration to mitigate or obviate the aforementioned problems, especially problems regarding the need for using wedges.